Printing machines and especially sheet offset printing machines have a large number of adjustable/movable elements, which may be arranged in a number of ways. For example, there are shift protectors, stack-carrying plates, and rollers. Printing machines also include a large number of exchangeable parts such as cylinders and rollers. These elements have a number of functions, which may be monitored and are triggered by the printing machine control. The control may consist of one or several computers that are connected to sensors within the printing machine.
The printing machine, in particular the sheet offset printing machine, is usually controlled by a control station allocated to that machine. The control station may have a monitor that displays the state of the machine. A user may set or modify data by selecting the appropriate input menus. The monitor of the control station may have a visual representation of the printing machine, such as a diagram to display the state.
Due to the large number of movable parts of the sheet offset printing machine and the numerous ways they may be arranged, the printing machine can place a very high demand on its users, especially when the machine malfunctions. Because of the complexity of these malfunctions, the situation is not easily resolved. The large number of parts makes it difficult to pinpoint the cause immediately. Some groups have tailored their own response process to make it possible to locate the corresponding cause and to minimize down time of the machine.
It is known in the industry for a sheet offset printing machine to have a machine diagram displayed on a panel, in which the individual elements like cylinders and rollers, are represented. Sensors are placed within the printing machine at various locations to gather the information that is displayed in the panel. In addition, the operating state of certain elements may be displayed by illuminating certain areas of the display. Thus, a user may be able to determine why the machine is malfunctioning. For example, information may be displayed on the panel that discloses one of the devices not visible from the outside may not be completely closed.
The major limitation of this type of setup is that the display can only represent a limited amount of components with their corresponding states. Furthermore, the display can only show the current state of a component. Thus, it is not very useful in determining how the component/machine came to be in that state and the possible states it may enter from its current position.